Heineken Reactivates UEFA CL Partnership With Integrated Campaign led By ‘The Wait Is Over' Spot

As the UEFA Champions League finally returns after its COVID-19 enforced break, the tournament’s official beer Heineken has celebrated the restart with an integrated, multi-phase campaign spanning ambient, experiential, TV, social and giveaways which was spearheaded by a spot called ‘The Wait Is Over’.

The hero piece of creative is a tribute to fan activities during the long wait of the past few months and features football fans dabbling in everything from culinary recipes to ping pong games. Heineken’s paid tribute to all the creative fans who soldiered on and tried filling the gap left by the absence of football and of the UEFA Champions League.

The global campaign is led by a 30-second centrepiece commercial, , created in harness with agency Publicis Itália, showcasing the difficulties of life in the last few months without the sport.

The spot offers a lockdown chronology in terms of memes related to the sport: from athletes carrying out physical activities with peculiar and unusual objects to alleviating the boredom by trying to hit a ping pong ball in a plastic cup.

According to Heineken marketer Cristiane Rosa, the objective was to bring some inspiration to the audience who will have to watch the remaining games from home.

“In this very unique moment in which we live, we hope that this campaign will inspire consumers to celebrate the return of this tournament, and to watch the legendary UEFA Champions League games with great emotion, but this time in a different way, while maintaining security” comments the executive,” said Rosa.

The campaigned was created for Heineken Senior Global Director (Brand) Bram Westenbrink, Global Director Communication & Innovation Els Dijkhuizen, Communication Manager Global Brand Team Ita Bassey and Communication Manager Global Commerce Obabiyi Fagade by Publicis Italy where it was written by Austin Campbell, art directed by Alex Eftimie and directed by Jack Cole through MJZ London.

Other key members of the agency team included Global Chief Creative Officer Publicis WW Bruno Bertelli, Chief Creative Officer Publicis Italy Cristiana Boccassini, Global Executive Creative Director Mihnea Gheorghiu, Creative Director Eoin Sherry, Associate Creative Directors Dan Arango Arthur Amorim, Art Director Alex Eftimie, Copywriter Austin Campbell, Global Strategy Director James Moore, Senior Strategist Margherita Tuvo, Head TV Production Francesca Zazzera, TV Producers Coordinator Erica Lora Lamia, Worldwide Account Director David Pagnoni, Global Client Service Director Eleni Charakleia, Account Director Codruta Arbore, Account Manager Marta Wereszczynska and Account Intern Tinatin Prangishvili.

The production company was MJZ London with Director Jack Cole, DOP Nanu Segal, Managing Director Helen Kelly, Producer Stephen Johnson, Publishers James Norris Nomad Enrico Munarini and Claudio Roveda, while the post production company was Big Buoy London, with color grading by MPC London’s Matthieu Toullet, plus music by Sizzer Amsterdam and the sound studio was Top Digital Millano.

This flagship spot was supported through additional social content including a Q&A with ambassador Thierry Henry and

In our countdown towards #UCL’s return, we sat down with Heineken ambassador @ThierryHenry for a quick Q&A. Check out the full series here: https://t.co/gEu8KFIYQy pic.twitter.com/ThY1RE0Xip

— Heineken (@Heineken) August 6, 2020

Let’s warm up with a cold one!#UCL #SocialiseResponsibly pic.twitter.com/vf0tWeS9tM

— Heineken (@Heineken) August 7, 2020

Another on-the-ground strand of Heineken’s ‘The Wait Is Over’ activation saw the beer brand celebrate the UEFA Champions League’s return saw Heineken symbolically paint the city of Lisbon green.

To mark the arrival of the trophy in the city’s Praia No Parque gardens ahead of the resumption of the round of 16 matches on 7 August, the brand lit up iconic landmarks in the beer brand’s signature corporate colour.

Eight green-lit sailboats sailed the waters of the Rio Tejo and docked at the pier in front of Praça do Comércio, while four famouse Lisbon restaurants (Topo Chiado, Ferroviário, Ramiro and Praia no Parque) and a residential building in Largo das Caldas were also ‘painted’ green.

Portuguese footballing legend Ricardo Carvalho, winner of the UEFA Champions League with FC Porto in 2003/04, was on hand to launch the campaign ahead of the restructred climax to Europe’s elite club competition. At an event held in central Lisbon, Carvalho introduced the new ‘The Wait’ campaign film.

“After this exciting kick-off event ending in Heineken® painting Lisbon green, the anticipation is even greater and we can’t wait for the drama of the UEFA Champions League to finally return” said Carvalho.

Hans Erik Tuijt, Director of Sponsorship at Heineken, added: “We like so many football fans around the world have been patiently waiting for the return of UEFA Champions League football. Now the wait is over, and what better way to kick off the action in Lisbon than to bring attention to their iconic landmarks using the Heineken green.”

The Portuguese capital hosted the final knock-out stages of the tournament between 12 and 23 August as the final eight teams play in a bubble for the world’s top club trophy.

While the beer brand also hosted an official UEFA ‘Kick Off’ opening party powered by Defected Records which brought together millions of fans from over 100 countries with eight DJs for eight hours in seven different cities.

Did you miss the livestream this weekend? Shame on you
Luckily, you can still enjoy the highlights, best served with a Heineken.

Many thanks to @DefectedRecords and..@idriselba @MelvoBaptiste @monki_dj @bobsinclar @Lowsteppa @PurpleDiscoM @FerreckDawn @DjAlineRocha pic.twitter.com/SE7BpzF4aG

— Heineken (@Heineken) August 12, 2020

While match-related social media activity ran throughout the final phase of the competition.

View this post on Instagram

The ultimate showdown! #UCLFinal #SocialiseResponsibly

A post shared by Heineken (@heineken) on Aug 23, 2020 at 2:00am PDT

View this post on Instagram

Over for now, but we'll be back… #SocialiseResponsibly

A post shared by Heineken (@heineken) on Aug 23, 2020 at 2:00pm PDT

What a spectacular end to an extraordinary season!

Most impressive highlight of the #UCLfinal? Comment below to let us know.#UCL | #UCLReturns | #SocialiseResponsibly pic.twitter.com/7gUCCpbUAH

— Heineken (@Heineken) August 24, 2020

Comment:

The world’s greatest club football tournament restarts on 7 August and, like Heineken, we at Activative are delighted that the wait is finally over.

But we also can’t help feeling that there are a few too similarities between this campaign and MLB sponsor Bud Light’s celebration for the return of baseball in the USA.